Highway railroad crossing



c. M. LlsH 1,755,698

HIGHWAY RAILROAD cRossING Filed oct. 8, 1928 l iii/runen' "ia I4 APY 22,1930.

5 A .rw A u w il?? Patented Apr. 22, 1930 i UNrrl-:D sTArs fp" CHARLESim LIsII, lor VALPARAISO, INDIANA i iarIeirwAvy RAILROAD CROSSING.

,i Application iled- ()ctober' 8, `1928. Seriali-No; 310,984.

My` invention relates to improvements in highway railroad crossings and1t more especially consists of the fea-tures pointed, out-in the claims.

Y l The purpose of myinvention is to provide corrugated metallic unitsformed induplicate for use between lthe rails; to provide duplicateunits for use outside of the rails; to overcome vthe slippiness of allmetal .treads for highwayy crossings; tol combine VKnarrow metallicportionsextending'crosswise of the `highway with alternate parallelportions of concrete or other roadwaymaterial; to provide for the easyinstallation .of the metallic units at highway crossings, 'on bridges,V

etc.; to produce a form of crossing which can be easily manufactured atsmall cost; and to provide a crossing thaty is almostindestruct- 'ible.

Y With these and otherends in view Iillustrate inthe accompanyingdrawing such instancesof adaptation'as will disclose the broadunderlying features ofmy invention ing duplicatey sections on .eachside-vof the track ,rails. 5" f Fig.' 5 is an elevation in sectionshowing shallow grooves formed inthe upperorstreeti' Vsurface portionsof my metallic railroadgrade crossing.

" tion `showing fasteningmeans applied at the Fig.A 6 is a furthermodication of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 isan elevation 1nl longitudinal secends ofthe 'corrugatedvrunits.l

,Figg 8 is yan elevation insection ofa pair j of replaceable units.` n

' In practicallycarrying outniyinvention;V

I may use whatever alternative forms of construction that the eXigencies'of traflicA ,and other conditions may demandV without depart- `ing fromthe board spirit of the invention.

All sorts of expedients,'metallic and otherwise, have beenproposed tomake railroad'VA grade crossings easy to negotiate7V and to .in-

-sure a long life of the materials that are used' to fill in the spacebetween the track rails of the railway and also to form the approaches,

0n each side of the railway line. Slabs ofVA concrete, ordinary woodenplanks and flat metallic plates have been proposed, andin instancesused. With concrete slabs there is a rapid deterioration of the adjacentupper corners of the slabs. Wooden planks have.l

a notoriously short life aside from their slippiness and tendency tocurl inhot weather.

All-metal. plates have been found unsatisfactory because of theirslickupper surface vwhichis not entirely overcome even thoughv rivet headsare placed here and there. There is arfurther disadvantage in the use-ofmetallic units placed only on each side ofthe track being lilled withordinary paving materials;

n With my invention I overcome these diliip l culties by forming a metalsheetl into deep 'duplicate corrugations, each corrugationa'pproximating a rectangular shapein cross section. rvThe upper orstreet surface portion vof the corrugationunites the vertical portionsand these in turn are united by a base portion through which any desiredfastening means may passfor'holding the corrugated .Y

units on the ties.Y The corrugations which open upwards are filledv withany desired material which has a more or less rough surface. Concrete orany substitutemay be used. Y

separatefastening plates may be used at the outer` ends of the units, asshown'in Fig. 8. The latter expedient' will -be found` very Y 85 Insteadof placing fastening means v through the lower-portion of thecorrugationv serviceablewhenever the road bed, ties, etc.,

require attention, for in such an event completed corrugated units,shown in Fig. 8, may

be bodily removed whileV the repairs `are being made,'and thereafterreplaced, p

The individual unitsmay contain whatever number of corrugationslarefoundfto be Y expedient. If desired the end lfastening yplates may havean upstanding projection, as shown i'n the rrightghand portion of Fig.,.1.00

rails, the space between the inner sections. f70. f

' ioY vor a bridge j pavement,

These projections separately close the open ends of each upwardly facingcorrugation and they serve to hold the Concrete or whatever fillingmaterial is used in place while it is setting. When these plates arefastened to the ties they will securely hold the units in place and yetthey are readily removable. The individual units, shown in Fig. 8, maybe formed'as duplicates of each other Vfor the mid portion of a railroadgrade crossing or the units may be made in duplicate to serve for theapproach portion of a crossing and as separate units for the inner sideof the railway rails.

. Standard interchangeable units comprise vertical portions 5 joined atthe top by yportions V11 and at vthe bottomY by portions 6.

.or other material 10v is placed.

rlhe outside edge of each unit isv formed of a single vertical portion 5that may be joined at the top to another vertical portion 5 or joined atthe bottom, as the casemay be. Into the upwardly facing corrugationsconcrete The units mayrest on ties 9 or any other support such asA'bridgegir'ders 20. The plates 25 may be )held by fastening nails 8 orotherwise, and if i extending projectionsY by spikes desired, the plates25 may have upwardly 26, wide enough so that a single one willapproximately close the open end of a corrugation'into which the pavingmaterial 10 is placed.

In case it is desired to install the unitsin a relative permanent mannerthe, expedient shown in Fig. 1 may be followed. In this instance twoduplicate units are shown between the track rails which are secured tothe ties or nailsV 8, 'or otherwise. lNhere these units meet bottomflanges 12 may be formed as shown in Fig. 1 and the portion of each unitadjacent the inner' edge of the rails 4 may Vbe formed with a reversevertical bend 13, a short horizontal bend 14 to pass under .the railhead 1, and a reverse vert-ical bend 15 adapted to lie adjacent the web43 of the rail between its base '2 andthe head 1.

Y In Fig. 1 the approach units are shown in duplicate.

Vflanges 12, the usual base portion 6, vertical adjoiningthe,y

'niodified, as shown in portions 5 joined by va tread portion 4. Thetread portions 4 and 11 may have slight grooves 21 formed lengthwisethereof, as shown in Fig. 5 andthe portion 7 ofthe unit outside `of therail may be formed at an angle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This portionwill rest upon the base 2 of the rail adjacent the rail web 3. VTheunits placed adjacent the inner edge ofthe rails form a wheel flangeclearance 164. V

The structure instanced in Fig. 3 may be 4 the units for both edges ofthe rail 'may be rlhey comprise tread ortions 11 base aortions 6vertical 5 7 portions 5, a narrow horizontal portion 22, a

short vertical portion'rQB, a diagonal portion to each other as it beVformedat aslightlangle to eachother so rFliese consist ofroutsidefastening Y Figs. 4 and 6. In Fig 17 positioned under the rail head 1, avertical portion 18 positioned adjacent the rail Vweb 3, and a diagonalportion 19 resting on the rail base 2. This diagonal portion 19 may abutthe vertical portion 5 so as to hold the vertical portions 5 and 18 inspaced apart relation; In'the case of Fig. 6, the tread por tion 11is'joined to a short lvertical portion 23, a diagonal'portion 24 with areverse bend onto itself and a horizontal portion 14 which engages theweb of the rail just below the head. l

From the description it will be seenthat my invention broadly comprisesforming a sheet material into deep corrugations of a given number andYfilling the corrugations on one side of the sheet with a pavingmaterial,

and in suitably holding the so formed units in position in anycooperative manner for railroad grade crossings or bridges or forgeneral paving purposes. Y

I do not of course limit myself to the sides of the corrugations beingin parallel relation is obvious that they may as to form slightlyundercut portions to assist in holding the paving material, shown in theleft hand portion of Fig. 7.

Should it be desired to close the end openings of all the corrugationsat one time a beveledplate V27 shown at the left hand side of Fig. 8 maybe used. It has flanges 28 and 29 which may rest on a tie 9. Inconnection withthe outside flange 28 nails or spikes may be used tofasten it to 'the/tie and the'in'side flange orhfoot 29 may bepositioned beneath the units with which it is assembled. The purpose ofbeveled ends, whether formed of sheet metal or wood' or otherwise'is tosafeguard the units when used for railroad grade crossings againstdamage should any'p'art of a train become loosened and drag along theties. The beveledA plates 27 will cause any dragging part to ride overthe 'units without damage.

Vhat I claim is: v

1. A composite highway material comprising a metallic sheet formedrintorelatively deep corrugations having tread and baseportions uniting them,a support for the base portions positioned at points I throughout theirlength, and a suitable paving material positioned in the corrugations on`one side ofthesheetrV i j,

2. A composite highway'v paving material comprising a sheetformed'intocorrugations having relatively-flat upper andrlower. connectingportions, and a suitable paving material in the corrugations.

Y A. new article of manufacture compris- .a plasticself-hardening"materialYplaced in the corrugations approximately totheir full depth.

4;. A composite unit comprising a resilient metallic sheet formed intoadjacent corrugations the edges ofeach unit beingfformed with 'wallsthat cooperate with the'edges of f other similar units, andya/llingmaterial in the corrugations.

5. A composite highway paving material comprising a 'sheet formed intocorrugations and a suitable paving material placed between the sidewalls of the uppercorrugaf tions and terminating approximately onthesame plane as the upper portions of such corrugations.

`6. A composite unit formed of a corrugated sheet having a given numberof corru y gations one edge ofthe unit adapted to cooperate with an edgeof a similar unit, the other edge adapted to engage the sides vof a Yrailroad rail with the corrugations approximately parallel to the rail,and means for u 8. A new article of manufacture comprising a sheetformed into adjacent corrugations, a railway rail, edges of the sheetcooperating with the web and base portions of the rail the firstcorrugation adjacent thehead -i I of the rail being spaced apart fromthe rail head with the corrugations running approxiy mately parallel tothe rail, a suitable paving material in the upwardly openingcorrugations, and means for supporting such a corrugated vunit inVoperative relation adjacent the rail against displacement. Y Y

9. new -article of manufacture comprising a sheet formedinto .relativelydeep corrugations and adapted through the formation v K Y of its edgesto position itself against` either side of a railway rail while leavinga space is between the V iirst corrugation and the head of the rail toform a clearance for the Hanges of traversing car wheels,A and asuitable'paving material in the corrugations as desired.

l0. A compositehighway paving'material comprising a sheetfformed intocorrugations having grooved upperportionsl and relatively iat lowerportions7 and `a suitable paving ma# terial in the corrugations.

f In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

CHARLES M; LISH.

